Latest on Regulation & Reform – Page 454
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UK board reviews buyout disclosure proposal
UK – The UK’s Accounting Standards Board is reviewing its proposal that companies should disclose how much it would cost to buy out their pensions.
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ABP's Maassen re-elected EFRP chairman
EUROPE - Jaap Maassen, director of pensions at Dutch pension fund giant Stichting Pensionfonds ABP, has been re-elected chairman of the European Federation for Retirement Provision.
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UK pensions regulator names risk management head
UK – The Pensions Regulator has appointed Martine Trouard-Riolle as its permanent head of corporate risk management.
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Dutch regulator wary over collective DC
NETHERLANDS – Collective defined contribution (CDC), in a climate of limited interest in pensions and irrational decision-making, is not the cheapest option, argues an official at Dutch pension regulator De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB).
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German MEP attacks portability plan
GERMANY – Thomas Mann, a German MEP, has fired another broadside at the European Commission’s proposed pensions portability directive, saying that if it were enacted as is, it would seriously threaten occupational pensions in Germany.
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EFAMA director general exits after a year
EUROPE - Hugh Trenchard, director general of the European Fund and Asset Management Association, is stepping down after less than a year in the role.
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ECB sees pension fund-bank competition
EUROPE – Demographic change could prompt greater competition between pension funds and banks, says the European Central Bank.
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New EU official handling IORP directive
EUROPE – A new official has taken over at the European Commission’s internal markets department overseeing the implementation of the occupational pension fund directive.
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UK’s PPF in “urgent” fund manager tender
UK – The Pension Protection Fund has issued a tender seeking asset managers for a range of asset classes as a “matter of urgency”.
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German government agrees first-pillar reform
GERMANY – The governing Conservatives and Social Democrats have agreed details for a major reform of the state pension scheme, to include hikes in the retirement age and the statutory contribution on the one hand and cuts in the state benefit on the other.
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Insurers fight cost issue in UK’s planned NPSS model
UK – Cost is not a key-factor in the choice between the delivery options for the government’s planned Personal Accounts scheme, as the proposed centralised model will only provided limited economies of scale, according to a report from the UK’s insurance industry.
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Only half German PKs will survive – survey predicts
GERMANY – Only about half of the Pensionskassen competing for pension business nationwide have a viable long-term business model, according to the consultant Rauser Towers Perrin (RTP).
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Parliament majority supports extending levensloop
NETHERLANDS – A majority of the Dutch parliament supports the extension of the tax-friendly ‘levensloop’ life-course scheme.
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Collapsed scheme compensation case to go to full hearing
UK – Pension campaigners, challenging the government’s refusal to compensate members of collapsed occupational pension schemes, have won the right for a full hearing next year, a High Court judge has ruled.
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Eumedion welcomes moves on changes to shareholder voting
NETHERLANDS – Eumedion, the Dutch foundation for corporate governance issues, which is supported by pension funds, says that its members will follow the strategy whereby though shares are loaned the pension funds will keep their voting rights.
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Audit Commission says London pension fund admin too expensive
UK – “The average administration cost per London council scheme member is £126 (€188) compared to only £44 for metropolitan council funds,” the Audit Commission finds in its study on London council pension funds.
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Survey finds Swiss funds content with own governance
SWITZERLAND – Swiss pension funds feel that there are no major shortcomings in their corporate governance and that the government need not need tighten their regulation.
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TFR transfer agreement could be €5bn boost to Italian pension funds
ITALY - A compromise reached in Italy will see approximately one third of the €19bn expected yearly in severance payments (TFR) being transferred into private pension funds, one third going into a state pension fund (INPS) and one third staying with small companies, the government estimates.
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Germany excludes housing from REITs
GERMANY – The German finance ministry has abruptly decided to exclude residential housing from German real estate investment trusts (G-REITs), due to be legalised by the government from January 1, 2007.
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EU Commission report to analyse UCITS
BELGIUM – The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Internal Market and Services is looking to commission a €600k comparative analysis of investment funds in the European Union.
